Introduction to Eros, aka Cupid, the God of Love and Desire
Valentine’s Day is all about love and passion, I thought it would be fun to chat about Cupid this month. Now, I know that you might be picturing a chubby winged baby carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows, but Cupid didn’t start out that way according to ancient myth. He technically didn’t start out as Cupid since the Romans decided to rename Eros, the Greek god of love for their own tales. The stories of Cupid AKA Eros are similar in Roman and Greek mythology, but for today’s post, I will be focusing on the Greek version of the myth.
Stories featuring Eros
Stories of Eros date back to around 700 BC, where he is mentioned in Hesiod’s work Theogony. Hesiod describes Eros as one of the primeval deities born from the world egg, however, his lineage varies from story to story. One thing that seems to be agreed upon is that Eros was armed with a bow and quiver full of arrows made of both gold and lead, and he could use these arrows to toy with the emotions of human and gods alike. Anyone shot with the golden arrow would feel desire, whereas anyone shot with the lead arrow would be averse to the attention of those who were smitten.
One of the most famous stories involves Ero’s mother, Aphrodite (Venus in Roman myth), who became so jealous of a mortal princess, Psyche, that she sent her son to cause the woman to fall in love with a monster. He snuck into Psyche’s room, and gazed upon her, accidentally pricking himself with a golden arrow as she awakened. He immediately fell in love, and later when Psyche was brought to him, he made her promise that she would never try to look at him. After a time of having relations in the dark, and listening to the bad advice of her jealous sisters, she broke her promise and took a sneak peek at the man she had married. Eros abandoned her, and it took many years of searching and the completion of trials given to her by the gods before Psyche finally was reunited with her love and was made immortal. Their daughter, Hedone (Voluptas in Roman myth), is the goddess of sensual pleasures.
By the Hellenistic period, Eros AKA Cupid was depicted as a mischievous child, even though is strange to think of him that way, especially since his name means “desire” in Latin. Most of the artistic impressions of him show him as a chubby winged boy chasing butterflies or throwing darts. While he may like to toy with the emotions of others, the romantic in me likes to think of him as a loving young man, and that he and Psyche defied all odds to find everlasting love. A love that eventually warranted a constellation in the night skies,, which is super cool if you think of it! Not many couples I know can top that!
Gods and Goddesses Eros “messed” with
There is no shortage of stories where the arrows from Eros’ quiver made contact with an unexpecting God or Goddess. While some of these stories were re-written by yours truly in a less patriarchal way… this list represents some of the couples he connected by way of his arrows of love. By the way his mother, Aphrodite, was generally in the middle of his antics. Perhaps we need a story about her next.
Hades and Persephone – As one story goes, Hades was shot with the arrow of love and that is what lead to his abduction of his future wife, Persephone. I like to think they fell for each other, which is exactly how I wrote it in Love For All Seasons. My story is more the focus of the Goddess, Hecate, falling for Hermes, but definitely is a far kinder end to Persephone’s story.
Apollo and Daphne – This one is pure spite on Eros’ part. After Apollo made fun of his archery skills, Eros shot him with an arrow of love directed at the nymph, Daphne, and then a leaden arrow to her at the same time, which held the opposite affect. Poor Daphne ran from Apollo’s advances, and finally had to get help by being turned into a Laurel tree to get away from him. He was heartbroken, and used his power to keep the tree evergreen.
Zeus’ multiple affairs – Eros has been blamed for messing with the big guy… but I’m not buying it. I think he earned the creepy stalker dude title all on his own.
Medea and Jason – Hera and Aphrodite arranged to have Medea fall for Jason so that she would help him obtain the Golden Fleece in the the Argonautica, a poem by Apollonius of Rhodes.
Some Videos I found on the topic worth a watch
The story of Eros and Psyche is a bit more involved than I could go through in this post, so do yourself a favor and check out this video. Suffice it to say, Psyche had to go through a lot to get back into her husband’s good graces. I suppose had she listened to him in the first place, she wouldn’t have had to go through so many trials, but such is the nature of the Greek myths. There is always a lesson to learn and a god to anger. I’m glad that Psyche eventually got through to Eros and got her happily-ever-after, we romance writers wouldn’t have it any other way!
Cupid: The God Of Love and Desire (Roman)
And about the painting… here is a wonderful video from the Cleveland Museum of Art:
And a cool video on the Painting Reproduction process for ‘Cupid and Psyche’
For more information on the Cleveland Museum of Art, you can find their website here: https://www.clevelandart.org/home. I’m not sure about you, but I definitely want to go now that I saw that video! Time for a road trip!
I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and that you have a love-filled Valentine’s Day. I also hope that Cupid’s golden arrows are kind to you, and that double shots find their way into all of the hearts that are lacking right now. The world could definitely use a healthy dose of love these days.
As always, sending my love.
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